


Walk a mile in my shoes

by Cerridwen



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: AU, Almost a meta, Gen, Klingons, Romulans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 03:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9417167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerridwen/pseuds/Cerridwen
Summary: If Kirk had ever been in Khan's position, what would he do?





	

**Author's Note:**

> I want to play a little “What if” game with you. Not exactly an AU, more like a comparison to provoke thought.

I want to play a little “What if” game with you. Not exactly an AU, more like a comparison to provoke thought.

Let’s say that the Federation and the Klingon Empire are at war in the original timeline. The Enterprise is defeated in battle. Then the ship is thrown 250 years into the future (by whatever means, wormhole, unstable nebula, whatever you like) but it arrives into this future badly damaged. Only Kirk and 84 members of the crew counting his bridge crew and McCoy have survived. Failing life support kills a further 12. 

In this future the Klingons have won but over the 250 years their culture has changed. Slavery is abolished and all people have equal rights. It is a great deal like the Federation except for one important thing. There is no Starfleet. In fact, Starfleet having lost the war have been condemned by history as the villains. All of Starfleet was massacred by the Klingons and while it is not common knowledge there are records that survive, telling of Kirk and the Enterprise. 

Now the Enterprise is found floating and adrift by a Klingon Imperial ship. The Captain beams Kirk over (perhaps by doing so he saves Kirk’s life) and questions him as to who he is and where he comes from.

What do you think Kirk would do then? Would he tell the truth or would he evade? 

The Klingon Captain refuses to release the remainder of Kirk’s crew from the damaged Enterprise until they reach a space station where the Imperial fleet has a base. And then a beautiful woman enters the picture. She’s a member of the Imperial crew and she’s obviously smitten with Kirk. 

What would Kirk do then? 

The Captain of the Klingon vessel has granted Kirk access to his ship’s technical manuals as a gesture of hospitality and has planned a welcome feast for him. At the end of the dinner the ship’s first officer starts asking Kirk probing questions and is obviously hostile while the Captain watches silently.

The first officer insults the Starfleet of the past, calling them outlaws and pirates. Kirk is a proud man, proud of Starfleet. 

What would he do? In his anger, would he let something slip? 

The ship’s Captain having made it clear that he shares his first officer’s opinion of Starfleet, questions Kirk as to where his sympathies lie. 

What would Kirk say? 

Alone in his room later Kirk paces … thinking … desperate. His crew is still trapped helpless on the almost destroyed Enterprise. The Klingon Captain of this ship holds them all in his power, is bent on taking them to his base, and refuses to release his crew. Kirk has seen so many of his fellow Starfleet officers die in the war that is for the Klingons now long past. 

He paces, thinking, worrying. Kirk, genius-level “walking books on legs” in the Academy, has read the history texts as well as the manuals in the database the Captain gave him access to. He knows what those history texts say of him. 

Then the woman comes to him. She makes her attraction know again, makes it clear she idolizes him but she is still loyal to her own captain and crew. 

What does Kirk do? 

Meanwhile the Klingon Captain and his top officers are having a meeting. The First Officer has discovered who Kirk is. The Captain and the rest express admiration for Kirk, his intelligence and his skill in battle. The First Officer disagrees, calls Kirk a criminal and a traitor to the Empire. The Captain states that a brave warrior is worthy of recognition but agrees with his First Officer’s assessment of the danger Kirk poses. Then based on nothing more than fragmented reports, written centuries ago by the winner’s side of a war, he orders that Kirk be confined to quarters with a guard on his door. Then he goes to confront him. 

When the Klingon Captain confronts Kirk with his identity and challenges him as to his intentions what would Kirk say? Would he lie about who he is, about Starfleet? Would he lie about his intentions towards the Klingons and the Empire? What would he say? 

The woman helps him beam over to the Enterprise and rescue his crew. But then what? The Enterprise is derelict, destroyed past repair outside of a Star base and they have neither the equipment nor the manpower to salvage her. So what can they do? 

Kirk and his crew are stranded in this inhospitable future where they are all condemned as criminals for losing a war centuries ago. The Federation and Starfleet are no more. What would Kirk do? Would he try to reform the Federation or would he and his crew simply try to disappear into the black? 

The Captain refuses to surrender his ship and his crew are loyal to him. They believe the history texts that condemn the Federation and Starfleet. The Klingon vessel is too large and complex to be manned by only 73 people, 74 if you count the woman. Without the Klingon crew he can’t fly the ship any more then he could fly the Enterprise even if she could fly. 

So what does he do? 

The woman helps the Klingon Captain and First Officer escape. The Klingons flood the ship with gas, knocking out all of Kirk’s crew except for him. Kirk manages to escape to engineering but he knows the Captain is following. His crew are once again prisoners and given the slaughter that the Klingons of the past wrecked on Starfleet he knows what to expect at their hands. 

What does he do?

Kirk is defeated as is his crew. What does the Klingon Captain do? The Empire has changed from what Kirk and his crew knew 250 years ago. They are not the war mongers that Kirk fought. They’ve learned to value life as well as strength and courage although they do make the mistake of viewing Kirk and his crew through the eyes of the winning side of the war. But the Captain respects Kirk so what does he do? Would he offer Kirk the same choice that Kirk offered Khan and if so, would Kirk take it? Would he accept exile on an undeveloped and uninhabited planet or would he gamble that he and his crew could still escape to rebuild Starfleet and the Federation? 

What would Kirk do? 

Now let me pose this same puzzle in the reboot universe of Into Darkness.

Let’s say that in a war with the Romulans the Federation falls, Starfleet is destroyed and only Kirk and the Enterprise survive by being thrown 250 years into the future. Most of the crew dies but for 85 and 12 more die due to failing life support.

But then the Enterprise is found by the top General for the Romulan Star Empire. He takes Kirk but imprisons his crew while keeping them unconscious so that they can’t rebel or escape. He doesn’t tell the Romulan Senate about Kirk or his crew because in the 250 years the Romulans have moved away from war as a first resort and now seek to assimilate all new cultures, having learned that many minds can bring greater results and solutions and that willing citizens are much better than subjects ruled by terror and force. 

But Starfleet is still the enemy of legend. Kirk and his crew are still remembered as criminals and enemies of the Empire. 

The Romulan General wants to restore the Empire to the days of its glory and thinks it has become soft and weak. 

So the General tells Kirk, “Build me weapons, build me ships, and aid me in winning wars. Do it or your crew dies.” 

What does Kirk do? 

His escape plan fails. He believes that his entire crew, his family, Spock, Bones, Uhura and all the others have been murdered. He is utterly alone in this unrecognisable and hostile future with no Starfleet, no Federation, and no one to turn to.

What does he do now that everything he knew is gone and everyone he loves has been taken from him? What does he do? 

His attempt to avenge his loved ones fails due to the counter-attack of one Romulan. His “just in case hole card” yanks him out of danger and takes him to the one place he thinks he can’t be pursed to, the home world of his enemy’s enemy. The devise that transported him away was mostly likely destroyed with his vessel, leaving no trace of where he went, or so he thinks.

But he’s wrong and the Romulan officer who beat his first attack has followed him looking for revenge for the death of his father who fell in Kirk’s attack. 

Hiding on the planet Kirk receives a communication ordering him to surrender. In that com is a mention of something that triggers hope in Kirk, a wild desperate hope that his crew might still be alive and are on that ship. But then he sees that the vessel that was on its way to capture him has come under attack by the planet’s inhabitants. Without intervention their capture or death is certain. 

What does Kirk do? 

After the battle Kirk gets the confirmation that he has so desperately been hoping for. His crew is alive after all and they are on board that ship. But they are up there and he is down here. True he has three prisoners of his own to bargain with but it’s obvious that this Romulan is going against the General’s orders; otherwise Kirk and his crew would all be dead. So what does Kirk do now? How can he save his crew without causing more death? 

It’s clear these Romulans have no idea about his crew. They can’t be part of the General’s plans nor do they likely have any idea of the danger they are in from him. Kirk’s crew is on board this ship, so near but still so far, still unconscious and helpless. Kirk is alone, without allies, but the Romulan General is still out there and if he doesn’t know yet that this Captain has disobeyed orders to kill Kirk he will soon. 

So what does Kirk do? 

The Romulan Captain and his officers have learned the truth of Kirk’s crew. They confront him in their ship’s brig, demanding the truth. What does he say to them?

Kirk gives them his truth, his pain at the loss of his family. But the death of his father burns hot within the Romulan Captain. 

“Murderer!” he cries at Kirk. 

So what does Kirk say to that? How does he reach this man through his pain when his own is still so strong? 

The Romulan General has come. Kirk listens from the med bay as the Captain and General verbally spar through the vid screen; Kirk hears the Captain lie to protect him and then feels the ship go to warp. He knows they’re headed back to Romulus but knows that they won’t make it. Not with the ship he built on their heels. But the General’s daughter is here. Kirk recognises her from his time of servitude to the General. She knows about the ship, what it can do. She knows what her father is capable of. So he reminds her of the danger and it’s enough. The attack when it comes is short and the ship he’s on survives. But it’s obviously sustained further damage. They aren’t moving either. 

Then the Captain is there. He practically reeks of desperation and anger. He makes it clear that the deaths that lie between them are not forgotten or forgiven, merely put aside for the moment. But he also make Kirk a bargain; his crew’s safety in exchange for Kirk’s help. 

So what does Kirk do? 

They take over the enemy ship together; they fight side by side, Kirk protecting the Romulan more often than not, saving his life once again in the process. Once the bridge is taken Kirk has a chance. He’s a better fighter then the Romulan; he could take him in a fight. And his enemy, the Romulan General who took his crew from him is helpless before him. But there is the bargain he made with the Romulan Captain who had promised to protect Kirk’s crew, his crew who are still helpless on the Romulan Captain’s ship. Kirk has no vessel of his own … or does he? 

What does Kirk do? 

The Romulan Captain betrays him. The bargain between them is null. The General is about to make his escape and there is no Federation or Starfleet to bring him to trial, to be held accountable for what he did. 

What does Kirk do? 

Kirk’s crew is still on the Romulan vessel, still helpless and Kirk is desperate to save them. Any chance that his crew might receive justice and mercy at the hands of the Romulans died when their Captain betrayed him. He can understand the Captain’s pain and rage at the loss of his father, none better. But he will not, cannot trust him with the lives of his crew. They are his family, yes, but he is also their captain. His first duty is to their survival and well-being before all else. 

So what does Kirk do? 

He bargains with the Romulan’s First Officer. A crew for a crew. The First Officer throws challenges and accusations at Kirk, delaying him, obviously stalling. He even accuses Kirk of crimes in the past that he didn’t commit, of plotting the destruction of Romulus with the Vulcans. 

What does Kirk say to that? How much time can he waste in argument this close to Romulus? The fight between the two ships had to have been noticed. Time is running out. What does Kirk do? 

The First Officer lowers his shields and Kirk beams his crew over. Finally he has them back. After everything they’ve been through, after a year of torment and fear he has crew, his family back!

But there is still the matter of the Romulan Captain and his ship. His crew isn’t safe yet. The Romulan has vowed to stop at nothing to see Kirk answer for the death of his father and he cannot count on him holding to his word to protect Kirk’s crew. There will be no justice for Starfleet personnel here in the Romulan Empire. The Romulan ship is damaged true but repairs are surely under way and Kirk has no way of telling how bad the damage to its engines are through the ship’s shielding.

So what does Kirk do? 

Mercy for mercy. Kirk sends the Captain back to his vessel alive along with his two crew members then fires to cripple the Romulan vessel. The advanced weaponry of his ship allows for pin point accuracy. But then the belly of his own vessel explodes including the area where his crew was waiting for him to wake them up. Explodes and kills 72 innocent people, Kirk’s crew, his loved ones, all dead and at the hands of someone whose life he had saved, to whom he had just shown mercy! His ship is going down, caught in Romulus’ gravity well and even if he could surrender it meant turning himself back over to the same people who had enslaved him and had just murdered the last of his crew. 

So what does Kirk do? 

One final question before I end this Meta, one that again turns everything around and looks at things from a different angle. What if, in the original timeline instead of Kirk judging Khan and his crew solely on the basis of their race (remember that at the beginning Kirk left Khan’s crew in their cryotubes even though he knew that 12 of them had failed, killing the people inside them when all that he knew about Khan at that point was that he was an augment), what if instead Kirk held out his hand to Khan as an equal? What if instead of condemning him based on nothing more than fragmented reports written centuries ago by the winning side of a war, what if Kirk said to him “While our histories say that your race committed atrocities against mine, it cannot be denied that my race committed atrocities against yours. But that was centuries ago and times have changed. The Federation embraces all races, all peoples as equals and there are many races who can match augments in both intelligence and strength. There is a place for you and yours here is you will meet us half way. I offer you my hand as an equal, will you take it brother?”

What do you think Khan would have said to that? Khan, who in his way had always been a builder rather than a destroyer until the end, in his madness? What would Khan have said to a normal human in a position of power over him extending his hand in friendship and equality? 

What if in the Kelvin Timeline Kirk had been able to see past his own pain and rage at the loss of Pike to see that Khan too was Captain, a Captain with a crew to defend just like Kirk? What if that along with the fact Khan had saved Kirk’s life twice had weighed more to Kirk on the bridge of the Vengeance then his fear and his anger? What if he had stood by Khan’s crew and demanded that they be accorded the rights of any sentient being guaranteed by Federation law and Charter instead of allowing them to be condemned to indefinite incarceration in cyrostasis without trial on the basis of their race, on the basis of what one of them, their leader had done after Starfleet attacked him first and on the basis that they had lost a war 250 years ago.

Oh what if, what if …

Something to think about is it not?

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr at: http://khantoelessar.tumblr.com/


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